The concept of awarding wild cards into the Pilot Pen men's and women's singles qualifying draws through a play-in tournament has come full cycle.

A few years back Pilot Pen Tennis tournament director Anne Worcester noticed the buzz created by fellow New Canaan resident Carolyn McVeigh. McVeigh was a teenager domminating the USTA New England tennis scene and Worcester decided to give her a shot in the women's qualifying tournament. Seeing all the interest from the assorted Connecticut media which typically view the qualifying events at the tournament with a collective yawn got Worcester thinking. It was actually her former employee Dan Frank who came up with the idea of having the winners of a tournament earn wild cards into the Pilot Pen qualifying fields.

New Jersey teenager Christina McHale, who has emerged as one of the world's top-ranked juniors in the last year or so, won the last two women's events (although she was unable to play in the Pilot Pen in 2007). On the men's side, Connecticut native and former Division III men's singles champion Will Boe-Wiegaard and Kabelo Maleka, a Mystic resident who was formerly a member of South Africa's Davis Cup team, earn the spot in the qualifying bracket the last two years.

On Sunday, a pair of Connecticut teens who have been dominant forces in the USTA New England junior circles for the last few years were the ones who punched tickets into next month's Pilot Pen. Marc Powers of Stamford won the men's open title while Farmington's Rachel Kahan was the women's winner.

Powers, a three-time singles champion of the USTA New England Sectionals, beat Maleka 6-3, 6-4 to win the men's open singles title at the Yale Summer Championships at the Connecticut Tennis Center. Powers had the chance to get familiar which what will be his new tennis home away from home as he will be a freshman at Yale in the fall.

"I had all the support, the (Yale) team and coaches came out to support me," Powers said. "I couldn’t be happier, it couldn’t have worked out better.

"There were a bunch of other schools (which recruited him). I looked all over the place, (Yale coach) Alex Dorato has been so consistent (in the recruiting process) and my coach John DeFilippo (at Stamford Indoor Tennis) had always dreamed of me going here."

Powers, who turned 19 on Friday, emerged from a field of 61 players including stars on the Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart University teams. Former Amity High star Ben Zuckerberg and Maleka, who was a member of South Africa's Davis Cup player pool earlier this decade where the other leading contenders.

Kahan, who will turn 17 a week from today, won a thrilling 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 final against 17-year-old Brooke Bolender of Delray Beach, Fla.

Bolender, the top seed, has played in 17 pro events and had a chance to serve for the match in the third set. Despite a brilliant display of defensive tennis against the hard-hitting Kahan, Bolender came up just short.

Bolender moved from her native Ohio to train at the Evert Tennis Academy which is headed up by the brother of tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert. Kahan, who is home schooled and does not play high school tennis, actually was invited to train for a week recently at the Evert Tennis Academy but is back home in Farmington.

"It means a lot," Kahan said. "I have been working hard, everybody here is great and to win is unbelievable."

Kahan has played in a couple of smaller pro events this summer. Kahan played at the Wichita (Kansas) event in June, beating Tristen Dewar in the first round before losing to Sabrina Capannolo. She reached doubles semifinals of Hilton Head event in June.

Like Powers, she is made her presence felt on the junior circuit. At the Junior Sectionals, the most prestigious event played at the Connecticut Tennis Center other than the Pilot Pen, Kahan won the singles and doubles titles in the girls' 14-and-under event in 2005, was the girls' 16-and-under singles champion in 2006 and in 2008 the 15-year-old Kahan won the 18-and-under singles title.

I'm curious to see if McHale's schedule will allow her to take part in qualifying at the Pilot Pen. She spent June playing in satellite events in Europe reaching the semifinals and quarterfinals in consecutive tournaments. She won a play-in tournament to earn a spot in the Australian Open main draw. She fought off leg cramps in her first round match before falling 9-7 in the third to Jessica Moore. She played in the junior bracket of the last four Grand Slams highlighted by her winning the junior doubles title at the Australian Open. At Wimbledon she lost in the first round of singles but reached the quarterfinals in doubles, reached the second round in doubles at the French Open and advanced to the third round in juniors singles and second round in the junior doubles bracket at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Another name to look for is Melanie Oudin, fresh off her improbable run to the fourth round of singles at Wimbledon. Oudin will be in New Haven tomorrow as part of a press conference at the Edgewood Park courts. Oudin's ranking doesn't figure to be high enough to earn a spot in the Pilot Pen main draw but she is expected to compete in qualifying next month in New Haven.